One-way Passage

Ming Luchuan drove Xia Wennan to the hospital for his check-up.

Hounded by his torturous hangover, Xia Wennan weakly collapsed on the front passenger seat, his forehead pressed to the window.
In the enclosed space of the car, Xia Wennan could smell the alcohol on his body that didn’t go away even after a shower and a change of clothes.
He could only sneakily open the window a sliver.

Fresh air poured in from the narrow crack of the opened window. 

Xia Wennan turned to look at Ming Luchuan and saw that he was single-mindedly focused on driving.
Not a single glance was spared his way. 

Feeling faintly ill, he rubbed at his forehead and called, “Ming Luchuan.”

Ming Luchuan ignored him. 

Xia Wennan pressed on, “What happened to my car?”

“What about it?” Ming Luchuan coldly answered him at last. 

“Wasn’t I driving it when I got into the accident? What happened to it?”

“There you go.
You know you got into a car accident.
Do you think your car would still be fine after that? You’re such a fool.”

Xia Wennan looked up.
“My car’s gone?”

“It was sent in for repairs.”

“Oh,” Xia Wennan let out a sigh of relief.
“I thought it was completely wrecked.
When will the repairs be done?”

“The mechanic will give us a call.”

“Okay then,” Xia Wennan responded languidly.

When they arrived at the hospital and went in for his check-up, the doctor chastised Xia Wennan for his excessive drinking.
The doctor was a female omega with a delicate stature, yet she was relentless in her scolding.
Xia Wennan endured the entire ordeal with great difficulty before hastily ducking inside the therapy room.

The treatment took half an hour.
When Xia Wennan came out, he couldn’t find Ming Luchuan and instead ran into Lin Shuqiu.

This was his first time seeing Lin Shuqiu after his discharge from the hospital.

Lin Shuqiu had come especially for Xia Wennan.
He asked him how his recovery was coming along.

“Pretty well,” said Xia Wennan.
“I still haven’t remembered anything though.”

“Make sure to take your meds on time,” Lin Shuqiu advised.
“Just take it easy.”

Xia Wennan nodded. 

They sat on the hospital corridor benches, making small talk about how Xia Wennan had been doing recently.
Lin Shuqiu explained that he knew Xia Wennan had come for a check-up because he saw Ming Luchuan meeting the director, so he’d subsequently rushed to meet him.

“Thank you.” Xia Wennan suddenly felt somewhat touched.
He and Lin Shuqiu had never really been close, but meeting him again right then was like getting to see a person from your hometown in an unfamiliar city.
The vast yet empty and desolate city could strengthen what was initially a weak connection, and without realising it, they’d gotten close.
Moreover, during his stay in the hospital, Lin Shuqiu had been very concerned for him and had helped him out many times. 

As Xia Wennan wanted to stay in touch with Lin Shuqiu, he asked, “Are you free tonight? Why don’t we get dinner?”

Lin Shuqiu appeared faintly hesitant to speak.

Upon seeing his expression, Xia Wennan said, “You aren’t? That’s okay, we can take a rain check.” 

“It’s not that,” Lin Shuqiu clarified.
“Then—I’ll see you tonight? You decide on the time and place, and I’ll head over once my shift ends.
I have a few things I need to tell you.”

At the sight of his grave expression, Xia Wennan curiously inquired, “What things?” 

Lin Shuqiu was already on his feet.
“I’ll tell you everything tonight.
I need to get back to work.”

Xia Wennan could only follow suit and stand up, saying, “Oh, okay.”

On the drive from the hospital, Ming Luchuan asked Xia Wennan, “Where do you want to go?”

Xia Wennan didn’t immediately answer this question.
If it were yesterday, he’d probably want to go to the company, eager to return to his position and prove that he was a person with self-worth who didn’t need to mooch off others to live. 

But now, he realised that he might need a little more time.
“Let’s go home,” he said to Ming Luchuan.

Ming Luchuan glanced at him and, after a moment, said, “Let’s have dinner together tonight.”

Xia Wennan sat up straighter in his seat.
“Ah? I’m meeting with someone tonight.”

“Who are you meeting with?” Ming Luchuan’s voice deepened.

“Lin Shuqiu.
My classmate.
You’ve met him.”

Ming Luchuan seemed to remember.
“That doctor?”

Xia Wennan nodded.

“Don’t drink,” said Ming Luchuan.

Xia Wennan raised a hand to hug his head.
He didn’t feel as dizzy as before.
“I wouldn’t dare.”

That afternoon, Xia Wennan decided on their dinner location and texted the address to Lin Shuqiu.
Lin Shuqiu was probably preoccupied at work, as he didn’t reply until half an hour later with a simple ‘got it’.

Xia Wennan spent the rest of the day at home, reading books and sorting through materials. 

Since he was a child, Xia Wennan had excelled in school.
He wasn’t the type to be buried in his studies, but under his grandpa’s tutelage, he’d fostered good learning habits as well as the ability to summarise and sort things systematically.
There were numerous technical books in his room and a large amount of research materials in his laptop, and he believed that even though he’d lost his memories, he’d always be able to retrieve them as long as they’d left traces in his brain.

He settled in to read for the better part of the day, and when he saw that it was almost time for his dinner appointment with Lin Shuqiu, he changed and left. 

In terms of location, Xia Wennan had chosen a restaurant not far from the hospital where Lin Shuqiu worked.

Lin Shuqiu hastily rushed over after work, but he still arrived a few minutes later than their agreed-upon time.

“Sorry, there was a small issue with a patient right before my shift ended.” Lin Shuqiu repeatedly apologised to Xia Wennan. 

Xia Wennan took the small teapot on the table and poured some tea for Lin Shuqiu.
“That’s all right, It’s not like I didn’t know that you were busy with work.”

Lin Shuqiu wiped the sweat dotting his forehead, picked up his tea cup, and drained it in one gulp.
He then set it down on the table and exhaled lightly.

Xia Wennan swiftly refilled his tea.

“Thanks,” said Lin Shuqiu.

Before Lin Shuqiu arrived, Xia Wennan had already ordered, and at this time, the waiters began serving their food in succession.

“I have no idea how the food here tastes,” Xia Wennan said casually.

Lin Shuqiu smiled wordlessly. 

In truth, Xia Wennan couldn’t stop thinking about what Lin Shuqiu had said at the hospital that morning, but since Lin Shuqiu wasn’t volunteering to start on that subject, Xia Wennan didn’t rush to ask.
After all, he’d sincerely wanted to invite Lin Shuqiu to dinner, and he didn’t want to make the other man think that he was only here for that thing he had yet to tell him about.

He had no idea what was going on in Lin Shuqiu’s mind, but from time to time, the man’s delicate brows would slightly wrinkle.

The two made casual conversation at first, the topics revolving around their university days or their old middle school classmates.
Halfway through their meal, Lin Shuqiu wiped his mouth with a napkin and looked straight at Xia Wennan, saying, “Wennan, there’s something I need to tell you.”

Finally, Xia Wennan thought.

Lin Shuqiu’s expression was grave.
“The day of your accident, when you were admitted to the hospital, we drew your blood to have it examined.
After we finished, there were some leftover samples that the students collected to run experiments on, and they discovered traces of sleeping pills in your blood.”

Xia Wennan was thunderstruck.
“What?”

The hospital was affiliated with a medical school, and Lin Shuqiu himself was still working on a research project with the director.
He’d return to the university lab on occasion, and it was there that he’d learned of these findings entirely by chance.

Xia Wennan was driving alone that night when he crashed into the roadside greenery, causing his car to overturn among the flowering shrubs.
At the time, he’d passed out due to serious injuries.
Passersby had summoned an ambulance and traffic police, and Xia Wennan was taken to the emergency room.

Following his admission, the traffic police department tested for alcohol concentration in Xia Wennan’s blood.
A drug test was also performed, but no abnormalities were discovered.
They also examined the car, but there was nothing out of the ordinary.
Because there were no other casualties, it was classified as a regular traffic accident, and the insurance company would be compensating the car and driver involved.

Ming Luchuan had handled all these procedures in his place, and all Xia Wennan had to do while he was laid up in his hospital bed was sign his name. 

The laboratory collecting and conducting tests on Xia Wennan’s blood samples was a coincidence, and Lin Shuqiu discovering the test results was also a coincidence.
If these coincidences hadn’t occurred, Xia Wennan might not have ever known he’d taken sleeping pills that night.

Lin Shuqiu’s tone was cautious and solemn.
“You’re aware of what this means, right? Would you like to report this to the police?”